Okay good afternoon everybody, and thank you very much rod and Jeff. for inviting me to talk it’s an honor to be here can everybody hear me? okay little louder? So I am at least financially unconflicted Many people think of health when they think of health they think of physical health However studies have shown conclusively that the head is part of the body So If you are crippled with panic attacks or have debilitating depression you are not healthy If this gingerbread man were to describe himself as healthy we would call him delusional So, I am a psychiatrist I’ve been a psychiatrist for 17 years for the past 12 years in college mental health for the first Six or seven of those at Harvard and now at Smith College a women’s college in Western, Massachusetts And what we’re noticing across the country in college mental health is really disturbing trend You know the first year students 18 years old arriving on campus more and more of them each year arriving on campus already taking 2, 3 4 psychiatric medications students coming in for crisis visits every day panic attacks self-injurious behaviors suicidal ideation professors and Dean’s walking students over on a regular basis worried about manic behavior or psychosis or anorexia so what in the world is going on and What does this mean about our future? So it turns out the trend is actually global. It’s not just about college mental health And It’s not just the United States Now these numbers are likely underestimates because it’s actually very challenging to count people with mental illness around the world So about three hundred and twenty-two million people are estimated to have Depression that’s about the same number of people that live in the United States. That’s up 18% in the roughly the past decade then now the number one cause of disability in the world 800,000 people die per year from suicide and that number, now the number 2 cause of death among young people worldwide Anxiety disorders also up about 18 percent in the roughly the past decade and Dementia the numbers are expected to triple by 2050 Why why is this happening? What is driving these trends and colleges and all around the world Do we know anything about the root causes so is there anything we can do about this? Or is this just how it’s supposed to be Well there are some theories that have been around a long time About what causes these mental health problems the neurotransmitter deficit theory stress Trauma and of course your mother So what about this modern atrocity might this have a little of something to do with it You know we have learned the hard way as many other speakers have just told you about How dangerous this diet is this modern diet for our physical health so it stands to reason you know? Why should the brain be any different? You know so if we could prevent? Psychiatry from going the same way. That would be wonderful psychiatry as a field is in its infancy nutritional psychiatry, so hopefully we can go in a different direction and learn from others mistakes But I believe that the decline in mental health around the world has a lot to do with the decline of The in the quality of our diet over the past 75 years, and I think that’s catching up with us And I believe that it may be one of the primary driving factors behind many mental illnesses So can we look to the Past to guide us going forward into the future We do know that Psychosis was exceedingly rare in traditional cultures compared to Western their Western westernized counterparts So what is it about westernization? Diet was one factor, but there of course were others. I believe diet was a very strong factor And I hope to convince you of that today. I actually believe that there are two dietary patterns on the rise around the world One because we are told it’s healthy and the other despite the fact that we know very well. It is not healthy The one we know is not healthy for us is the standard American diet or what? I’m gonna. Call the sad diet this diet used to be called the Western diet, but it is now exported around the world and And What distinguishes the sad Western diet from other diets is The presence of refined and processed carbohydrates and the presence of refined and processed fats Not the presence of saturated fat meat or cholesterol Refined and processed carbs up 32 percent Calories from sweeteners around the world between 1962 and 2000 and refined and processed fats up 3 to 6 times Around the world between 1985 and 2010 so We know from epidemiological studies Which is usually the first step in trying to understand? What’s going on that many mental health conditions are associated with the standard sort of sad Western diet? But these are just associations. We don’t know anything about causality. This is just a hypothesis So what did the randomized control trials tell us so just sit back and relax? And I’m gonna walk you through every randomized controlled trial there has been about diet and aggression All two of them So Both of these studies were done in the past year and both in Australia the SMILES trial and HELFIMED trial these the researchers chose to compare a modified Mediterranean diet with a the sad Western diet and they did find That there was some modest improvement in depression symptoms in the people who switched to the Mediterranean diet Now this is compared to the sad Western diet, so it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Mediterranean diet is the best diet for the brain? It just means that it’s better, but of course. What diet isn’t better than the standard diet uh you know, but I do believe that there are many good things about the Mediterranean diet I Define it for myself as a post agricultural whole foods diet It’s very low in processed foods low and refined oils low and refined carbohydrates So we don’t know although many people believe that it has something to do with magical ingredients in the Mediterranean diet like olive oil or nuts or wine That it is really May have more to do with what’s not in it rather than what is in it, so? In terms of the Signature ingredients in the standard American diet the sad diet. They really are the refined carbohydrates and the refined oils So what do we know already about how those affect the brain? We actually know a lot? So both of those ingredients are very powerful promoters of inflammation and oxidation All of these mental health disorders are strongly linked to inflammation oxidation, just like so many other illnesses are So the way sugar causes inflammation and oxidation one way any way is that it floods your chemical pathways and Overwhelms your natural internal antioxidants tilting your system too far towards oxidation and away from anti oxidation the way that Refined seed oils do this the way they cause inflammation is by competing with anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acid particularly one called EPA so if you eat Soybean oils for example which are very high in omega-6 linoleic acid Then what you’ve done is you tilted the scales because these compete with each other You’re now tilting your whole system too far towards inflammation and too far away from healing There have been many trials attempting to use EPA supplements fish oil supplements and such in various mental health conditions Unfortunately the results are rather unimpressive except perhaps when it comes to delaying the onset of psychosis most of these trials are underwhelming There’s another way a second way in which refined foods particularly Carbohydrates destabilize brain chemistry, and that’s through this invisible internal hormonal roller coaster So when the average? person probably not in this room You know eat sugary meals three four five six times a day with flour sugar cereals juice etc And so they get a nice big glucose spike And they get a nice insulin spike on its tail and that brings the blood sugar back down, so what’s the problem? the problem Is that insulin is not just a blood sugar regulator? Insulin is a powerful master hormone of growth that Regulates lots of other hormones in the body including the sex hormones and the stress hormones So what you get is as the blood sugar is coming down if it’s coming down too quickly The body will perceive that as an emergency and release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline and these are your fight-or-flight hormones particularly adrenaline and some people are quite sensitive to this to the release of these hormones and can experience some very uncomfortable symptoms You know in between meals? Panic attacks insomnia if it happens in the middle of the night You know intense cravings for carbohydrates irritability all kinds of things So is it any wonder that these conditions are on the rise around the world if most people are eating this way now And if you’re wondering you know what’s the degree of this of this problem? Just take a look at what happens to teenage boys who drink sugar sweetened beverages compared to a sugar-free Cola drink? That’s their adrenaline level spiking to nearly five times its baseline about four or five hours later So this is not subtle and for most people this is happening again. Three four five six times a day Now the third way that That the modern American diet standard to diet is damaging the brain is through insulin resistance, so We know that people with depression are a little bit more likely to have type 2 diabetes Which is just an end-state form of insulin resistance? we know that people with bipolar disorder schizophrenia are at very high risk compared to the average population of type 2 diabetes and People with Alzheimer’s disease a staggering 80% of them have either insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes But these are just associations, so this doesn’t mean anything about Causality we do have some interesting a few studies, which give us clues that perhaps insulin resistance inflammation Etc are playing are more than just associated that they actually may be playing a role in how severe the some of the symptoms some-somebody symptoms might be So here is an interesting study about bipolar disorder took a group of people with bipolar disorder tested them for insulin resistance and diabetes the rates were actually quite high and They discovered that in people who with bipolar disorder who had insulin resistance or type-2 diabetes They were more likely to have chronic symptoms They were more likely to be rapid cycling, and they were less likely to respond to the mood stabiliser lithium Now and that’s very interesting is it’s just that insulin resistance may actually playing a role in the in the disease process With Alzheimer’s disease You know I said psychiatry is a field nutritional second its infancy Alzheimer’s disease is a very mature field a scientific field right now in terms of understanding how insulin resistance affects the brain So we know many of us call Alzheimer’s disease type 3 diabetes and the reason for that is that it seems as though there gives multiple lines of high-quality evidence indicating that Insulin resistance is not just associated with Alzheimer’s insulin is resistant seems to be a primary driving force causing most cases of garden-variety Alzheimer’s disease and this could be an entire talking of itself and it has been But just a one key point is that insulin resistance the way it affects the brain is that the blood-brain barrier? Itself becomes resistant to insulin not to glucose glucose can flow right in questions asked Plenty of glucose gets into the brain even if you have type 2 diabetes severe insulin resistance the problem is that insulin has a difficult time getting into the brain, and that’s a problem because The brain is an energy hog it needs a constant supply. It’s an electrical organ It’s very busy So it needs a constant supply of high-quality energy and it often prefers glucose but can also use ketones, so you know if insulin can’t get in to burn glucose insulin is actually required for cells to turn glucose into energy and if you don’t get out of insulin in the cells will begin to sputter and Suffer energy deficits and this can be especially problematic for the hippocampus the memory center of the brain Because then that’s an especially active area that it’s very sensitive to insulin deficits So We have some handful of interesting studies of these drugs called PPAR gamma agonists And these are these are medications, which not only reduce insulin resistance, they’re called insulin sensitizers, but they also have Anti-inflammatory properties so and these are not antidepressants But if you give them to people with severe depression bipolar depression treatment-resistant depression They actually seem to help which is very interesting and it’s sort of proof of concept that inflammation and insulin resistance Are playing a role again in driving the disease process It’s all very early research We also see that these medications can be helpful perhaps with psychosis and in cognitive deficits and early dementia So when it comes to diet and mental health? You know if insulin resistance is an issue well, how about a ketogenic diet we know that that helps with other other? Insulin resistance related conditions. Well of course we have a wealth of information going back over a hundred years now indicating that ketogenic diets specially formulated low carbohydrate diets can be very remarkably power powerfully healing in serious neurological conditions including epilepsy and so Why should the brain be any different into this in terms of psychiatric disorders? This dotted line that you see down the middle of the slide is the imaginary line between neurology and psychiatry really doesn’t exist So what works for neurological conditions that would stand to reason that it should work for psychiatric conditions and there have been a handful of case reports and very very small preliminary studies On this topic that you can read about more if you like The other diet that I’m very worried about as a psychiatrist That’s on the rise around the world is the plant-based diet so the plant-based diets of vegan and vegetarian diets These are really there’s a movement afoot This is a really Germany takes the lead 44% of Germans now described himself as eating a low meat diet That’s up from 26%. Just three years ago and in the United States there’s been a 50% increase in vegetarians and vegans in the United States in the past ten years alone and veganism in particular has increased to six percent of Americans That’s up 500% in the past three years, so What’s interesting if you look around the world is that there are actually 1.5 billion vegetarians estimated to live on the planet? But the vast majority of them are not vegetarian by choice They’re vegetarian because they can’t access nutritious animal foods They’re about 5% are by choice. I call it voluntary vegetarianism tends to trend with affluence and education So how can I stand here and tell you that I’m worried about this plant-based diet being unhealthy for the brain when we have actual real-life clinical trials showing us That plant-based diets can be helpful truly helpful in Metabolic disorders such as obesity diabetes and heart disease. I can tell you that confidently because They did not simply remove animal foods from these No What they did was they removed almost all of the fat? they manipulated multiple other lifestyle variables often stress smoking etc and Lo and behold they removed the refined carbohydrates So how in the world are we supposed to know? What is responsible for the benefits of these diets? It may have had nothing to do with plant fullness or animal lessness You know in given what we understand about how refined carbohydrates affect metabolism my money is on the sugar lessness We don’t yet have to the best of my knowledge any randomized controlled trials comparing a Whole Foods Plant-based diet to a Whole Foods animal-based diet. That would be a fair fight, and I’d be very interested to see what that would show So simply removing animal foods from the diet is an untested intervention But what about mental health do we have any studies of mental health and plant-based diets Well, we have a few epidemiological studies. They’re weak. They’re mixed. They’re poorly conducted They often don’t control for refined carbohydrates. That’s just a problem that keeps happening and And there aren’t any meaningful clinical trials so We don’t really have a lot to go on in that regard so But I would argue that we don’t need more studies Because we already know so much about what the brain needs we know what it’s made of we know how it operates We’ve been studying it for a long time. We don’t know everything about it of course But we know what it’s made of so one of the mistakes that keeps happening in nutritional research is that researchers will Choose their pet diet and then test it out on people with various conditions and see what happens and they’re always comparing whatever their pet diet is to the sad Western diet and of course it’s always going to do better and Then they can say that their diet is great So you know I I don’t think we need any more studies in order to make scientifically sound recommendations about brain food so when you study it that way when you pick your diet and apply it you’re studying nutrition from the outside in I Prefer to study it from the inside out What does the brain need how do we get it there? So you know when I was in psychiatry residency for four years of psychiatry residency After medical school were not a word about diet in four years of course you know I left with the impression that the brain was just a bag of neurotransmitters designed to be manipulated with medications and And I did that for a while Until I became interested nutrition and but of course the brain is so much more than that it’s this beautiful sophisticated Electrical Oregon lined with these special fats, and it’s just amazing and if billions and billions of beautiful cells And if everything isn’t constructed properly. It’s not going to work It doesn’t matter how many drugs you throw at it, or how well neurotransmitters are working So what is the brain made of let’s start there so? The brain is two thirds fat and a full 20% of that is this amazing Essential omega-3 fatty acid called DHA The brain has a lot of protein in it of course every organ needs protine to build you know essential components Neurotransmitters and the like the brain is loaded with cholesterol 20% of your body’s cholesterol is housed in the brain and that despite the fact that the rain only represents 2% of your body weight and The brain again an energy hog needs a constant supply of glucose and ketones to keep it running and in order to extract energy from those molecules it needs lots of vitamins and minerals to run those chemical reactions I’d like to introduce you a little bit more to DHA So DHA is a really incredible molecule it’s been conserved over evolution for more than 500 million years in vertebrates So vertebrates have used it as is for that length of time and you’ll find it enriched in all of these special places in the body from mitochondrial member – synapses and and even to the photoreceptor in the retina, it’s responsible for helping to maintain the integrity of the blood-brain barrier as well, so interestingly DHA is really critical for the Proper development of the frontal cortex in humans, and if that doesn’t go well Problems can ensue So what is so special about this molecule? Well it turns out that the configuration of it is has quantum mechanical properties and that just means that And I’m not a physicist, but my understanding is that it interacts with electrons in a very special way In a couple of important ways one is as In the retina in the photoreceptor it can actually transform sunlight into electricity and In synapses and other places in the body it actually functions as a semiconductor buffering electron flow It’s really quite amazing So people much smarter than I am have hypothesized that without DHA consciousness symbolic thinking intelligence impossible and You know according to this research your DHA plays a unique and indispensable role in the neural signaling essential for higher intelligence So Here’s the rub plant foods contain absolutely no DHA whatsoever They contain ala which is an omega-3 fatty acid, but it is widely agreed That it is extremely difficult If not impossible to transform ala from plant foods in the body into the DHA that the brain needs This may help to explain why? vegetarians and vegans have lower DHA levels than omnivores Another powerful argument for including animal foods in the diet if you care about your brain is the micronutrient access argument So here are some nutrients of interest Actually every single nutrient that the body needs can be found in animal foods and what’s more in the most highly bioavailable form possible Compare that to plant foods, which not only are lacking certain key nutrients such as b12 vitamin k2 EPA and DHA But some of the forms of nutrients that they contain are harder for us to use iron for example So the to make matters even worse Plants also contain something animal foods. Do not contain anti-nutrients So anti nutrients are chemicals natural chemicals in plants that are there for their own purposes But many of them interfere with our ability to utilize nutrients Not only from the plant foods that we eat, but from the animal foods that we eat along with those plant foods And I want to call your attention to a couple of them you know Soy, which is an important staple protein food for people who choose a plant-based diet Interferes with iodine of utilization and that can impact thyroid function and thyroid function is very important for the brain And then the Greens beans nuts and seeds Which are really important crucial elements of a plant-based diet because they do contain protein? They are rich in phytic acid and phytic acid as a mineral magnet That interferes with minerals like iron zinc calcium and magnesium so Why is this important? it’s important because again remember the brain needs more nutrients than many other parts of the body because of its activity and And these nutrients are really key to brain function if you are deficient in these your brain may not be working at top speed So how how bad is this phytic acid problem? Here’s an example? If you eat zinc rich oysters with black beans you will absorb less than half of the same from those oysters If you eat those same oysters with corn tortillas you absorb virtually none of the zinc from the oysters so through robbing your brain of these minerals and This may help to explain. Why vegans are more likely to be inadequate in zink than omnivores Note that omnivores are also at risk because they do eat some of these seafoods iron deficiency is rampant and You know people think of iron deficiency In women in particular people think of iron deficiency as a blood problem, but iron deficiency If you have it you also have a brain problem So it’s another reason why I think that meat belongs in a healthy brain healthy diet But it doesn’t have to be red meat by meat I mean animal foods. It could be the meat of any animal and so for example Duck is richer in iron than red meat and oysters even more so and when it comes to Iron and b12 oysters are a powerhouse, and if you’re if you’re looking for liver is as well. It’s less palatable to many people But if you’re looking for DHA really seafood is where it’s at and you know if you look at this chart Salmon is included there, and it just kind of blows everybody else out of the water So The people that I’m most concerned about when it comes to low meat or plant-based diet in terms of accessing critical brain nutrients are women So because women are more likely to be culturally averse to eating meat and fat that May help to explain why? three-quarters of vegans are female in the United States They’re more likely to Prioritize weight and appearance over health they’re more likely to prioritize animal and planet health over their own personal health for compassionate reasons and This is not just a problem for the women that we care about in our lives It is also a problem for the future Generations because women literally feed the brains build the brains of the next generation through their food choices So What happens if you don’t get enough DHA early in life these are again just associations we can’t be sure but children with autism are more likely to have lower levels of DHA for example and omega-3 sub doesn’t seem to help very much The the critical window for obtaining DHA and in young life is the third trimester to age 2? once that window closes if We may not be able to undo a lot of that damage With ADHD we know that children more likely to be obese or overweight twice as likely Than their age match counterparts, but we don’t know if there’s a cause-and-effect relationship There but we do know that they tend to be deficient in Omega-3s particularly, DHA EPA and zinc and iron again zinc and iron much easier to get from animal foods than from plant foods there’s been some very interesting elimination diet studies with ADHD putting children on a What looks mostly like a whole foods diet they threw in some margarine and some apple juice too, but just a few foods diet And a little misguided But they but these studies show remarkable results they’re flawed they’re flawed States but there are quite a few of them, and they all point in the same direction and So why not try that what would be the harm? So which diet do I think offers the most hope for Humanity I? advocate For a pre-agricultural whole foods diet why? Because it contains animal foods Which are rich in nutrients so it maximizes your nutrient availability? And it’s lower in anti nutrients than a post agricultural Whole Foods Diet which will like the Mediterranean diet Which will be a contain a lot of grains and legumes which and the phytic acid and so forth? So I think it’s a I think it’s an excellent diet and it it makes sense right? I mean why should this be a radical suggestion I mean I can’t understand why people think this is such a strange idea So what we’re up against as we kind of wrap up here what we’re up against when I try to employ this in clinical practice is It’s not as easy as it sounds to get people to switch to this diet. We’re up against something I call the psychology of subtraction Which is nobody wants to take anything out of their diet? They just want to add things to it? It feels better to do that feels positive and empowering active If you take something away that feels bad and negative and depriving So you know one of my students said to me once? But I you know she’s how can I? Fix how can I help myself my mental health my depression my anxiety without medication and their all-natural way, and I said well Let’s took a little take a look at trying to get that additional amount of sugar down in your diet she looked at me like had three heads and she said but but dr. Ede I deserved chocolate and He was just dripping with addiction. You know nobody says about kale, so It’s a and you know the other problem we’re up against is that as marketing Nobody gets rich telling people to take things out of their diet believe me. I am proof positive of that and so There’s all this marketing superfoods and marketing supplements and people really thought in is it such an appealing it’s such an appealing concept So it’s it’s a hard sell But again so I really do think that we have all the scientific information. We need to make a common-sense recommendation Scientifically sound about what foods what dietary patterns would be better for the brain? I don’t think we need more studies to be able to begin to act is my point and it would be great to have more studies But we can act now, I think we need a revolution you Know in the way that women feed themselves in the way that parents feed their children the way that schools Feed their students the way hospitals feed their patients and the way senior centers feed their residents. Thank you

Men are two thirds more likely to kill themselves than women. You might also want to add them to the revolution list. I do however understand men are more disposable in a sense. Great presentation. Thank you.

@Dr. Ede…Much food for thought. One of the people that I respect the most and listen to promotes an all-plant based diet and I lean that direction more than the rest of my family, BUT I have done some of my own research and believe that there is some truth to your premise…that some nutrients can only be sourced from animals. How to teach myself to eat liver…now that is truly a big question. I had heard that organic chicken livers (which it is almost impossible to obtain short of growing your own) are the best type of liver and I was envisioning ways of turning it into a palatable pate…like the old potted meat when I was a child…which I hated…but better with herbs and spices. But I have been in a quandary how to convince my mother…McDonald's customer #1 until coming to live with us…to go vegan. Hubby is more amenable if you promise him hotdogs once a week or so. But still, I hesitated. I listened night before last to another of the speakers on this channel who talked about the need of a higher oleic acid than can be obtained through vegetable fats. Anyhoo…thinking…maybe I'll arrive at the perfect solution…then it will be the time-management implementation of it for a chronically exhausted gardener, canner, cook, wife and daughter and extraordinaire at absolutely nothing, but I try real hard, person such as myself which may be the biggest hurdle of all. Oh, why can't they just make a mac-and-cheese that has everything you need in it?

Also, having been a former user (by prescription only) of anti-depressants and others of it's ilk, you might consider doing some research into mucuna…that is if you truly care for your patients well-being.

Yes, diet is a huge factor, maybe primary even, in explaining why there is a notable increase in mental health issues around the globe. But it may also coincide with the increased addiction to mobile devices that have been proven to increase anxiety, depression and suicide. She didn't touch on that AT ALL in her lecture. I believe declining global mental health is complex, not just diet related.

It’s stunning that a psycho can lecture on promoting eating meat as opposed to other proven healthy diets! We all know where her inducement is coming from and her self interests. Her speech is like house built of cards. Phew,all blown away!

The key here is that there are no studies showing the difference between whole food animal vs. whole food plant based diets. All of the authors who talk about plant based diets that she mentioned stress very much the need for whole plant foods, that is why they used the term whole food plant based or nutritarian or starch based instead of vegan. She clearly states that it is her BELIEF that animal products are not the problem. She may be an MD, but her aversion to a WFPB diet is pedestrian at best.

so many factors at play… science usually isolates and explores one cause and effect, which is interesting, but it may not be helpful in solving a complex problem.. for example, we know that love relations also influence insulin, cortisol and oxytocin levels… even influences gene expression and neural stem cell… outside the west, diagnosis includes the person's whole life,not just including diet, but how well they sleep, chronic stress, family relations/love, etc. this allows for solutions that support, much less side effects…

Is not about a diet here, is about equilibrium. In eastern Orthodox we feast. In spring, 40 days, to clean the winter diet toxins. In summer, in autumn and winter also. The diet vary from most meat in winter to most (fresh) vegetals in summer. Also, in feast periods, we do not eat meat or products from animals (mik, cheese). But, we are aloud to eat some days fish, oil, wine. Overall, is a healthy equilibrate diet. Sure, if you are not in religion thing, can discard the fasting as BS, but at risk of your health. And, our cuisine in winter is full of animal fats (the pig fat for example) and in summer mostly vegetable oils (sunflower, squash?) but also animal fats as in cheese, butter, sour cream, integral milk.

When Ede refers to 'pre-agriculture diet', she actually means pre corporate industrial diet. Agriculture is the production of food and fiber. NONE of the foods she mentions or pictures were pre-agriculture… but when produced/raised properly, they come much closer to supplying the nutrients our ancestors thrived on than the products of industrial ag & the food industry.

This CAN and IS being done in a manner that actually RESTORES and REGENERATES damaged lands and ecosystems. (Caps for emphasis, not 'yelling'.) On YouTube, see Holitisc Management https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7pI7IYaJLI Farming With Nature, in the Austrian Alps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsPCY05nM78 Also see Mark Shepard, Darren Doerty, and Greg Judy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6HGKSvjk5Q … just to point out a few who are regenerating ecosystems by farming with nature. White Oak Pastures in Georgia also has a YT channel.

30:06 none of those plants are pre-agricultural foods. Those big leafy greens, that enormous brocoli and pepper, and those sweet and juicy fruits ARE the products of agriculture and selective breeding.Pre-agricultural plant sources probably were fruits, seeds, some leafy plants and some roots, mushrooms (i knjow mushrooms are not plant but you get the idea)(btw 1: fruits had way little pulp and had way more fibre than the fruits we find at the supermarket)(btw 2: the leafs that they ate were also alot smaller)So.. i think our ancestors from the pre-agr period got their vast majority of calories from animal sources.

On a different note… 32:32 …. what about men? aren't men worthy of the revolution?Or is it that men allready have the perfect diet? Or is it that men don't suffer from all the disseases you talk about?

Mental illness. So many factors. Pollution. Agricultural chemicals in the food. Trauma. Isolation. Pharmaceutical drugs. Ignorance about food planning and preparation. A good wfpb diet requires a fridge per person of fruits and vegetables per week!

How come Dr Greger, an epidemiologist demonstrates from studies in countries where people eat little or no meat, diabetes, cancer and heart attack are barely known. If eating animal protien is so healthy, why is this?

Apparently, Dr Ede is confused as to the results of the large population studies, such as the 7th day Adventist study and others. It seems pretty clear that a vegetarian diet or vegan diet, by themselves, will greatly reduce the incidence of disease, although she implies that there is something wrong with the results of the clinical studies because other factors were involved and so she suggests that the other factors (ceasing smoking, etc) may be the reason there is a reduction of disease. Her viewpoint has been thoroughly discredited by scientists and doctors, and she is sounding more like a shill for the American Beef Association than a critically thinking, evidenced based doctor.

I had BiPolar 40+ years ago and was put on Lithium and my weight increased rapidly and massively. Lithium is in modern batteries and we are warned to keep batteries away from children because of the damage they can do if swallowed, so what’s the difference?

Dr. Georgia Ede neglected to mention the World Health Organization (WHO) report. WHO has classified processed meats as a Class I carcinogen on a par with plutonium. WHO also classified red meat as Class IA carcinogen.As far phytic acid is concerned, Dr Georgia Ede neglected to mention if phytic acid was harmful in an otherwise healthful diet.

Yeah, there is a problem with the picture of the "pre-agricultural diet" – that problem is that the fruits and vegetables shown in that nice picture either did not exist at all, or existed in a much less hybridized form in pre-agricultural times. I realize it's only a picture, but it doesn't do the underlying concept justice…

Caused by stressors of competition and frustration of our socio economic system.It’s only going to get worse.https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=5&ved=2ahUKEwjYhsz7nuDdAhXqRt8KHRckAjYQFjAEegQIAhAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redpepper.org.uk%2Fa-mad-world-capitalism-and-the-rise-of-mental-illness%2F&usg=AOvVaw0mEHEggBNuiPIwKJSDDhEL

That is funny, because I have been saying that my money on why carnivores feel better is because of the "sugarlessness" and no refined carbs. She has been saying that about vegans, and yet it is the carnivores that definitely have no sugar or carbs! So I have been assuming carnivores feel so great because they put down refined carbs.

I had found that by cutting out sugar and high carbohydrate foods, that I could eliminate my RLS (restless leg syndrome), so I'm not surprised that the same method will work for other neurological and mental conditions. Why are they sinking so much into trying to find a cure for Alzheimer's, when the cause is already known?

A brilliant presentation, thank you for explaining these concepts so beautifully. Will definitely see what other videos you have produced. This has given me lots of food for thought! Good luck with your quest to change the world!

23:50 There is a low conversion rate of ALA to EPA then DHA in the human body, but how much does the body actually need and where is the point of minimal return? There's nothing here that describes any clinical study showing cognitive benefits in a vegan to higher intake of DHA through seafood intake for example. What about outright benefit in non-vegans?

Absolutely horrendous. Animals are only useful to meat eaters because of the foods the animals ingest — plants and grains. Why not go straight to the source? I can't believe this advice was given in 2018, and by such a proclaimed academic.

Follow an Ayurvedic diet. You would NEVER eat oysters with frigin beans or corn! Mental health is karmic. This women is never going to figure it out unless she addresses the astral realm and the negative energy created by torture and death from using animals as foods. If DHA is the source of higher intelligence and only meat contains it why is it that the highest beings ever to live on Earth hardly ate any meat or none at all? Satvic foods properly combined will help cure these mentally ill people.

Another problem is these pharmaceuticals have the tendency to promote the symptoms they supposedly alleviate; particularly if they are taken long term. It's not a matter of needing to be on meds, it's a matter of getting off them and eating a species-appropriate, ancestral diet.

Low carb, high fat saved my life. I was getting so sick, tired all the time ai could hardly drag myself around. Was on a high carb, low fat diet. Within one month of low carb I was great and have stayed that way. I regularly do intermittent fasting. So easy to do when you are keto adapted. I love raw fish such as salmon and tuna. Also oysters. I marinate white fish in lemon juice and add olives, olive oil, avocados, and spring onions. Incredibly delicious! On another note I am very concerned about this trend towards veganism. Also a lot of talk now about taxing meat! Never any talk about taxing sugar and all the refined white rubbish. Are they deliberately trying to kill people! Meat is such densely rich food and you don’t need very much. Especially with a fatty cut.

Incredibly insightful discussion. I absolutely believe the the SAD diet caused decades long chronic depression in myself. My reason was simply as I changed to LCHF the depression lifted in days and has never returned. I have been eating this way for 2.5 years. This area really needs further investigation and congratulate DR Zinn on brining this information to others awareness.

Most people are intelligent enough to grasp that SYMPTOMS are not diseases, they are simply the bodies innate warning feedback system that something is wrong.

It is beyond unethical to pitch the public the false notion that the normal response to a poor diet and lack of vital life giving nutrients causing inflammation and a host of symptoms of poor health, means they are "mentally ill". The NIMH withdrew all funding for the DSM5 because it lacks a shred of scientific credibility and yet pharma and drs continue to convince the public that they are all 'brain diseased".Numerous high ranking shrinks (Insel, Pies, Frances) admitted that 'MI' is a hypothetical construct, a convenient allegory to get people to take neurotoxic drugs and "bullshit". As such, the fact that a slew of nutritional whores have come out of the woodwork and jumped on the “crazy' bandwagon to get their share of the payola, is disgusting.

The truth is the “symptoms” labeled— as if they were “mental illness's”—- are in many cases, nothing more than the reversible results of bad diets and vitamin deficiencies and once diet and lifestyle are improved, the imaginary brain disease, magically disappears.

Further to that symptoms called “medical mimics” or “psychiatric pretenders” are well documented to be caused by

1) over 500 prescription drugs taken as prescribed (including psych and street drugs)

2) are the normal sequalea of over 100+ bona fide (real diseases vrs fake psych “diseases) such as thyroid or Lyme disease.

3) can be caused by numerous common occurrences such as dehydration, lack of sleep, vitamin deficiencies, being on a ventilator or being in the disgusting hospital (esp for seniors) or being exposed to an environmental toxin

Imagine being labelled"mentally ill" for life because you had a vitamin deficiency or were sleep deprived? And yet countless people are all the time. Misdiagnosis completely explains the false epidemic of so called “mental illness” crisis that Robert Whitaker explains in his book Anatomy of an Epidemic.Clearly diet, not psych drugs is the solution to poor health, but playing along with and selling the false notion that poor diet makes people "mentally ill", is medical malpractice and insurance fraud and a liar is a liar is a liar.

Ede is a mentally unstable ideologue. She cannot be trusted to impartially represent the science and statistics. Take her claim that 6% of Americans are vegan. This is countered by the bulk of studies into the subject. Why doesn't Ede know this?

In the UK, only 1% identify as vegan. https://www.vegansociety.com/whats-new/news/find-out-how-many-vegans-are-great-britain

Ede uses the figures of a food industry study (that costs $3450 to access), that has a vested interest in promoting change in consumer demand (so as to stimulate commercial interest). https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/4959853/top-trends-in-prepared-foods-2017-exploring-trends-in-meat-fish-and-seafood-pasta-noodles-and-rice-prepared-meals-savory-deli-food-soup-and-meat-substitutes.html

I am an avid #MentalHealthAwareness advocate and performer, and I love this so much. I travel the country trying to bring that awareness on stages, in classrooms, hospitals, and on my YouTube channel, so I get excited when I see other advocates. 💙❤

Great video!!!…It takes a strong person to suffer ignorance and smile. I too find it incredibly frustrating that so many people, institutions, schools, hospitals. Etc , fail to see the clear correlation between illness and the highly processed foods they carelessly provide. All anyone can do is lead by example.

Lead – From wine goblets, pewter beer tankers and plates, and plumbing in ancient Rome, until modern times. Lead based solder was commonly used on copper pipes until recently. (Plastic pipes transfer toxins to the water also.) A good water filter helps, or water from clean wells can be flushed through pipes by letting the faucet run before drinking or using the water for cooking.

Lead was eliminated from paints decades ago (but all commercial paints except casein paints tinted with earth pigments contain several toxic chemicals and usually heavy metals like cadminum), and gasoline, but remains in soils along roads and highways, from gasoline in the past, and lead weights used to balance wheels. Those living near highways, or downwind from them in dry areas or seasons can be exposed via windblown dust.

Mercury – The ballast in the holds of the ships the Spanish took to the new world in search of gold (mercury has long been used to process gold ore). Bits of mercury are easy to find in the rivers of Alaska, for the same reason. The 'Mad Hatter' was crazy because mercury was used in making hats. Then it was decided that it was a good idea to put mercury into our mouths, for life. The 'silver fillings' are about half mercury, which is released every time we chew, clench our jaws, or brush our teeth.

Manganese and organophosphate chemicals – 'Manganese Madness' was observed in minors exposed to this metal. The link between central nervous system damage and manganese was taken advantage of by those who created chemical warfare agents, aka 'nerve agents'. These organophospate chemicals chelate or 'tie up' minerals, creating an imbalance, forcing the body to substitute manganese for copper in body tissues. This results in the missfolded proteins/prions as seen in 'mad cow', or 'wasting disease' in wildlife in areas with high manganese, low copper, or where manganese levels are high in water downstream from mines or certain industrial manufacturing. The most commonly known organophosphate is glyphosate – now found in most foods in the grocery stores, rivers, lakes and ponds… and rain.

Statins and/or lack of Natural Fat and/or cholesterol in the diet (NOT processed seed oils misleadingly sold as 'vegetable'!) – Our brains are made of fat – saturated animal fat – about 80%. Cholesterol makes up about 30% of the brain (considered a 'fat'). Nuerological symptoms, including pain and decreased mobility, is the number one reason that many people stop taking statin drugs, in spite of their physicians telling them that they will die. In fact, statins provide only a few extra days of life, on average, but cause a lot of health problems along the way. Dr. Paul Mason 'Saturated Fat is Not Dangerous' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUY_SDhxf4k&index=4&list=PLEDV_ItCQZVaIREovqGa8RxaCIrpNU5LA

EMF fields – Including microwave radiation from cell phones and cell towers. These fields are suspected to have adverse affects on the nervous system.

Dr. Barry Groves looks at the effects of an animal-based diet vs a plant-based diet: (spoiler alert: the brains of vegans are smaller than the brains of those who eat meat, and shrink much faster in old age) "What We Are Designed to Eat' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhnYEkS-0PE

So, Salmon. Salkon also has mercury in it. And there have been studies to suggest that heavy metal toxicity leads to neurological issues too. And if we are getting DHA and also mercury from seafoods, isn't that the same as the phytic acids effecting the nutrients we can get from plants? The sea is NOT clean anymore. So much toxic waste. We can't really Ignire all of the toxic material in our animals foods either, acting, essentially, as phytic acid does in plants. Certain genetic disorders predisposition people for having an inadequate detox system. Those people cannot properly detox heavy metals and they store easily. What could be recommended for such people? Gene's play a huge role in which foods we can eat. It's definitely advisable to take all processed foods out, but heavy metals in seafood is concerning. Some can't have it. And then, people can have allergic reactions to meat as well (usually from a tick bite), what about those people? If you have kidney damage already, is mostly meat advisable? I want to go on all meat, but certain factors just may not allow it. I'm not smart by any means or know what I am talking about, hut these are arguments others have come up with. Things I've seen discussed between others. Even those who weren't fighting for an all plant diet.

No doubt refined carbs and oils gotta go. But I worry about how low carb mostly equals more meat to most people. Separating yourself from the impact that has on sensitive beings that can suffer is a form of mental illness on it's own. If you raise your own and slaughter them yourself and witness and process the whole experience then I could see that remaining mentally healthy because you're not separating yourself from the impact of your decisions. I bet most carnivores and other high-meat people are not doing that, so while they may be benefiting their brain in one way, I think they are also increasing their mental illness at the same time. Many vegans may be increasing their mental illness in a direct way through high carb intake but at least they aren't slaughtering many sensitive beings for their own health.

I suspect the answer is somewhere in between for most people. Generally eat plant based and then some well-chosen animal products to get essential stuff like DHA. Fasting is the simplest way to deal with insulin resistance. Easiest way to rebalance our hormones. Still great to avoid processed carbs and go generally low carb. Just thinking we still have to make ethical decisions as we do or we'll harm our collective mental health in another way that is just as bad. The collective effect of slaughtering billions of beautiful creatures is real, and if you don't feel anything about it, then you are likely already unwell.

I accept that my body's needs mean that I will contribute to the death/harm of some animals, I don't try to separate myself from that, and am aiming on learning to fish to become more direct with it. I know that plants are alive, and that the ethical line separating their deaths from the deaths of animals is arbitrary, but I still feel it. I had my hands on a sheep while it's throat was sliced open during a survival course and there is no denying that it felt very different than pulling a beet from my mulch-based garden. I feel an arbitrary but very real distinction between killing a fish vs killing a deer. So I'm going to follow my own internal sense of what is ok and try to balance it with my needs. As we move forward in our food systems, please do the same, don't forget about the impact of your decisions in your ongoing quest for wellness. If you go carnivore, hunt animals in places they are out of balance, like pigs in Texas, or deer in certain areas. Take from the herd in a way that strengthens it. Go as deep into the management of a wild herd as a gardener is with their soil. Take few actions in that system, but make them well-thought out actions.

Some of the nutrition stuff is way oversimplified. Like phytic acid, it can hurt the absorption of some stuff but it can also bind with heavy metals. Calling something an "anti-nutrient" is silly. Toxicity is dose dependent. Many chemicals are medicinal at one dose and poisonous at another. Heme iron has all sorts of correlations to health problems, too much of a good thing, higher absorption isn't always better.

Everything is about an almost infinitely complicated everchanging state within that person, how all potential factors are balancing in that person at that time. But I still agree with the basic idea of old-school whole foods omnivore diet as the best. We don't yet have the ability to measure all factors and how they are interrelating in real time inside a body. Until we do, we should admit what we don't know. Most science is super zoomed in, and most large scale studies are questionnaires, so we rarely gather a lot of actual data over a long time. Most science leaves soooo much room for error. Human interaction brings a huge margin of error, even with the scientific method, our bias is too powerful. Here's some Veritasium videos on it. https://youtu.be/42QuXLucH3Q https://youtu.be/cebFWOlx848

I have to say this last bit, she's giving a health talk while obviously carrying unhealthy weight. You have to walk to walk before giving talks. If you can't get your own health under control, no sense giving talks on it, even though I agree with her basic idea.

Is that insulin resistance measured in people on antipsychotics? I started Seroquel 11 years ago and this medication is associated with high levels of triglycerides in the blood. It also increases the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. I gained 103 lbs since starting Seroquel. It makes me crave sugar and refined carbs. Now I have been on keto since March and have lost 20 lbs, and hope to lose a lot more. But I still struggle with anxiety and depression, although I am on antidepressants as well.

I admired vegetarians, as a wanna-be vegan. Now I think they're misinformed, but with the most hopeful intentions. Like me, they swallowed vegan dogma without understanding human physiology in the least. We're not apes even when we act like them. Humans have guts made for eating meat. It's not our choice, else I'd live on ice cream and chocolate covered almonds. The apes all have different guts and teeth from each other, depending on their diets. There's 200 years of insightful nutrition research. It's been a big subject a long time. Yet food-article writers say diet is most important [true] and to eat only/mainly plants [whoa! wrong & backwards].

In my humble opinion I think that the reason we currently see the plant based movement gathering momentum is that from a psychological viewpoint, eating only plants as opposed to an omnivorous diet, is based on a collective guilt of the now very well documented evidence of animal cruelty in global food production. Post baby-boomer generations are more sensitive and more savvy re. how the world works. That's why vegans are so angry and upset all the time. Its two-fold. At once they are upset at animal cruelty practices and secondly upset because they are so undernourished by what they have replaced for animal foods. I should know , I've been both a vegetarian and vegan. It's all well meaning yet guilt based ideology. I believe the way forward is to reduce the intake of inflammatory and oxalate carbs AND create a more humane life and death cycle for the animals we are designed to be nourished by. Just a theory! 😉

I used to not have energy for anything. Very high sugar diet. Then I switched to "clean carbs" and lost weight but didn't gain any energy. Started keto about a month ago and suddenly I don't need caffeine to get through my day, wake up before my alarm rings, and don't need any naps.

So, CAN DHA be synthesized from alpha-linolenic acid (by our bodies), or can't it? I grew up vegetarian, and still do not eat oysters or shrimp (both because I consider the oceans to be giant sewers full of radioactivity, and because those are forbidden foods in our community). Nor do I eat salmon (I see salmon – I see radioactive iodine) or tuna (who knows what power plants they swam past?). And I doubt that the grand total of four mountain trout I've consumed since learning to eat meat, have contributed enough DHA to keep me going. I and my family were doing awfully well as vegetarians, so we must have been getting or synthesizing sufficient DHA. (not that there isn't room for improvement in that regard) So, really, I'm confused. We excelled at our near-Vegan Vegetarian diet, and are pursuing our Keto/OMAD diet with equal vigor and strictness. Yes, we're losing weight we didn't even realize was there, and the mental clarity we're getting from running on ketones, is astounding. But were we only doing well, before, in comparison to the 'SAD' diet?

Is she not embarrassed when Buddhists and Hindus, vegetarians for more than 2,000 years, Olympic athletes, Seventh Day Adventists, etc., in addition to all those like myself (71 years old in perfect health as a vegan) demonstrate excellent physical, mental, and spiritual health? Vegan healing resorts all over the world are known for healing cancer, for example. Ocean and John Robbins as well as Dr. Mark Hyman (Dir. of Functional Medicine, Cleveland Clinic) and so many others have shown PROOF that a plant-based diet is amazingly healthy assuming the plants have been organically grown.

I have been saying this for years, the trans lot are not healthy because they are delusional, and mentally ill.#notall obviously, but the vast majority.

If this was any other disorder it would be treated as such.You find the same in the food industry, they can change guidelines and eating habits to the masses, the trans activists can change laws and your rights.

Hey Dr Ede! Went carnivore after watching you. Bipolar seems to be gone!!! Do you know how many lives you are saving? I tried suicide again last September. Barely survived Disgusted at the time. Now? I’m happy, productive, looking forward to every single day. How can I thank you?

So much conflicting information by people who are supposed to be helping us. Just found this site which contradicts this podcast as well as all the others that cover keto, carnivore, etc. How do you know what's best ? https://www.drmcdougall.com

I think it's just different for everybody. If I eat much fat, I get nauseous. If I eat much protein, I get stomach aches. After I found out that I can't digest milk (casein and whey), I went vegan. Then I read tons of nutrition books. Now I eat tons of plants, cooked and raw and some fish. I do like the idea of a pre-agricultural diet, but it just doesn't work for me. Even though I noticed that my blood sugar fluctuations highly influence how I feel (in a bad way).I'd really like to have that pre-agricultatal diet vs whole foods plant based diet study though. However, I also know that grain fed animals have lower levels of omega 3 and higher levels of omega 6 than grass fed animals, so I do believe, if you're eating animals, it should be from grass fed animals. Which costs a whole lot of money.There's one point where everyone agrees and that's: don't eat crap. I'm going to stick with that and when I'm a dietitian (so in a few years), I'm just gonna give my patients all the information I know, so they can make a choice on their own. I do think that the nutritional-science-culture we have, is also making people sick. Just yesterday I talked with this really confused girl who was scared of having nuts and fruit for breakfast, because apparently you're not supposed to eat that together either. It's driving people mad.My advice: don't eat crap and if you have some sort of illness, take a look at whether it could have some link to your diet. Otherwise you're fine.